Oil and gas projects in the Western Amazon: threats to wilderness, biodiversity, and indigenous peoples

Background

The western Amazon is the most biologically rich part of the Amazon basin and is home to a great diversity of indigenous ethnic groups, including some of the world''s last uncontacted peoples living in voluntary isolation. Unlike the eastern Brazilian Amazon, it is still a largely intact ecosystem. Underlying this landscape are large reserves of oil and gas, many yet untapped. The growing global demand is leading to unprecedented exploration and development in the region.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We synthesized information from government sources to quantify the status of oil development in the western Amazon. National governments delimit specific geographic areas or “blocks” that are zoned for hydrocarbon activities, which they may lease to state and multinational energy companies for exploration and production. About 180 oil and gas blocks now cover ∼688,000 km² of the western Amazon. These blocks overlap the most species-rich part of the Amazon. We also found that many of the blocks overlap indigenous territories, both titled lands and areas utilized by peoples in voluntary isolation. In Ecuador and Peru, oil and gas blocks now cover more than two-thirds of the Amazon. In Bolivia and western Brazil, major exploration activities are set to increase rapidly.

Conclusions/Significance

Without improved policies, the increasing scope and magnitude of planned extraction means that environmental and social impacts are likely to intensify. We review the most pressing oil- and gas-related conservation policy issues confronting the region. These include the need for regional Strategic Environmental Impact Assessments and the adoption of roadless extraction techniques. We also consider the conflicts where the blocks overlap indigenous peoples'' territories.     

Oil industry, wild meat trade and roads: indirect effects of oil extraction activities in a protected area in north-eastern Ecuador

Starting in 1994, a wholesale wild meat market developed in north-eastern Ecuador, involving Waorani and Kichwa people in the area of influence of a road built to facilitate oil extraction within Yasuní National Park. Between 2005 and 2007, we recorded the trade of 11 717 kg of wild meat in this market, with pacas Cuniculus paca , white-lipped peccaries Tayassu pecari , collared peccaries Pecari tajacu and woolly monkeys Lagothrix poeppiggi accounting for 80% of the total biomass. Almost half of the wild meat brought to the market was transported by dealers for resale at restaurants in Tena, a medium-sized town 234 km west of the market. Prices of wild meat were 1.3–2 times higher than the price of meat of domestic animals, suggesting that it is a different commodity and not a supplementary protein source in the urban areas where it is consumed. The actual price of transportation between the local communities and the market was a significant predictor of the amount of meat sold in Pompeya. Based on this relationship the Waorani hunters sold exceptionally larger amounts of wild meat than would be expected if they would not have the transportation subsidies provided by the oil companies. Although the scale of this wild meat wholesale market is still relatively small, its dynamic reflects the complex interactions that emerge as the overriding influence of oil companies or other private industries modify the culture and subsistence patterns of marginalized indigenous groups, increasing their potential impacts on wildlife and natural ecosystems.     

Multiplicity in palm uses by the Huaorani of Amazonian Ecuador

An ethnobotanical study of the palms used by the Huaorani in the Yasuní National Park and Huaorani Ethnic Reserve in Amazonian Ecuador was carried out. In this inventory, 37 palm species were found; all were used by the Huaoranis. One hundred and ninety-one different uses were recorded in eight ethnobotanical categories. Most species (64.9%) were used for house construction and human food. More than half of the species were used for domestic utensils (59.4%) and hunting and fishing implements (54%). A comparison is made between these data and past studies for the other six indigenous communities from Amazonian Ecuador. This paper shows the highest diversity of useful palm species and the highest number of different uses ever recorded for an indigenous group in Amazonian Ecuador. The data combine quantitative and qualitative approaches.  © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2004, 144 , 149–159.     

Road Development and the Geography of Hunting by an Amazonian Indigenous Group: Consequences for Wildlife Conservation

Protected areas are essential for conservation of wildlife populations. However, in the tropics there are two important factors that may interact to threaten this objective: 1) road development associated with large-scale resource extraction near or within protected areas; and 2) historical occupancy by traditional or indigenous groups that depend on wildlife for their survival. To manage wildlife populations in the tropics, it is critical to understand the effects of roads on the spatial extent of hunting and how wildlife is used. A geographical analysis can help us answer questions such as: How do roads affect spatial extent of hunting? How does market vicinity relate to local consumption and trade of bushmeat? How does vicinity to markets influence choice of game? A geographical analysis also can help evaluate the consequences of increased accessibility in landscapes that function as source-sink systems. We applied spatial analyses to evaluate the effects of increased landscape and market accessibility by road development on spatial extent of harvested areas and wildlife use by indigenous hunters. Our study was conducted in Yasuní Biosphere Reserve, Ecuador, which is impacted by road development for oil extraction, and inhabited by the Waorani indigenous group. Hunting activities were self-reported for 12–14 months and each kill was georeferenced. Presence of roads was associated with a two-fold increase of the extraction area. Rates of bushmeat extraction and trade were higher closer to markets than further away. Hunters located closer to markets concentrated their effort on large-bodied species. Our results clearly demonstrate that placing roads within protected areas can seriously reduce their capacity to sustain wildlife populations and potentially threaten livelihoods of indigenous groups who depend on these resources for their survival. Our results critically inform current policy debates regarding resource extraction and road building near or within protected areas.     

China's Governance over Offshore Oil and Gas Development and Management

With its rapid economic growth, China is eager to get sufficient energy (including oil and gas) to support its dynamic national development. Economic reform in the late 1970s triggered China's offshore oil and gas exploration and exploitation. Relevant laws and regulations have been enacted and implemented, including regulations on exploiting offshore petroleum resources in cooperation with foreigners and regulations on marine environmental protection against pollution from offshore petroleum activities. This article attempts to assess and analyze China's national policy and relevant laws and regulations governing offshore oil and gas development and their effectiveness. In addition, the prospect for joint development in disputed sea areas adjacent to China is discussed.­     

Influence of crude oil on changes of bacterial communities in Arctic sea-ice

The danger of a petroleum hydrocarbon spillage in the polar, ice-covered regions is increasing due to oil exploration in Arctic offshore areas and a growing interest in using the Northern Sea Route (NSR) as an alternative transportation route for Arctic oil and gas. However, little is known about the potential impact of accidental oil spills on this environment. We investigated the impact of crude oil on microbial community composition in six different Arctic sea-ice samples incubated with crude oil at 1 degrees C in microcosms for one year. Alterations in the composition of bacterial communities were analyzed with the culture-independent molecular methods DGGE (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis) and FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization). DGGE, FISH and cultivation methods revealed a strong shift in community composition toward the gamma-proteobacteria in sea-ice and melt pool samples incubated with crude oil. Marinobacter spp., Shewanella spp. and Pseudomonas spp. were the predominant phylotypes in the oil-treated microcosms. The ability of indigenous sea-ice bacteria to degrade hydrocarbons at low temperature (1 degrees C) was tested using four representative strains cultivated from sea-ice enriched with crude oil. [14C]Hexadecane was degraded by the sea-ice isolates at 20-50% capacity of the mesophilic type strain Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus, a known hydrocarbon degrader, incubated at 22 degrees C.     

Indigenous Land Use in the Ecuadorian Amazon: A Cross-cultural and Multilevel Analysis

Among the remaining tropical forests of lowland Latin America, many are inhabited by indigenous peoples, and the sustainability of their land uses is a point of heated debate in the conservation community. Numerous small-scale studies have documented changes in indigenous land use in individual communities in the context of expanding frontier settlements and markets, but few studies have included larger populations or multiple ethnic groups. In this paper we use data from a regional-scale survey of five indigenous populations in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon to describe their agricultural land use practices and investigate the factors that affect those practices. We find the areas cultivated by indigenous households to be small compared to those of nearby mestizo colonists, but a large proportion of indigenous cultivated area is in commercial land uses. We also construct multilevel statistical models to investigate the household and community-level factors that affect indigenous land use. The results reveal significant influences on cultivated area from contextual factors such as access to markets, oil company activities, and the land tenure regime, as well as from household characteristics such as demographic composition, participation in alternative livelihood activities, and human, social and physical capitals. Overall the results are most consistent with market integration as an underlying driver of land use change in indigenous territories of the study area.

Oil and gas development in the World Heritage and wider protected area network in sub-Saharan Africa

More than 25% of natural World Heritage (WH) sites worldwide are estimated to be under pressure from existing or future mining and energy activities (IUCN 2008; UNESCO 2009). However, that ‘pressure’ has yet to be quantitatively defined and assessed for many regions of the world. We conducted a GIS-based analysis of overlap and proximity between natural WH sites and areas allocated to oil and gas concessions as well as pipelines and oil wells for all of sub-Saharan Africa. We found that oil and gas concessions were located within 27% of the WH sites, though no currently active oil wells were operating directly within the WH sites. A proximity-based assessment of oil and gas concessions within 5 km of WH site boundaries included only one additional WH site, suggesting that sites susceptible to indirect impacts from oil and gas development are likely to be those already overlapped by concessions. Our findings indicate that activity from oil and gas development in sub-Saharan WH sites has to date been limited; however, future pressure cannot be ruled out, due to continued presence of concessions within more than one quarter of the network, and projected expansion of oil and gas exploration within the region. Our results may be used to inform the inclusion of new sites into the WH network.     

Global Reporting Initiative's environmental reporting: A study of oil and gas companies

In this paper, we ask if the use of a voluntary standard assessment system for environmental reporting could help mitigate the damage caused by oil and gas companies to developing nations. What level of data reporting by these companies is needed to allow the assessment of environmental practices? To answer these questions, we evaluate the environmental practices of eight oil and gas companies against the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines issued in 2006 by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Content analysis of their environmental reports 2009 indicates that they made reasonable efforts to disclose their environmental performance in accordance with the GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. These guidelines appear to provide a robust and readily available tool for reporting comprehensive progress concerning all aspects of environmental activities. The voluntary adoption of the guidelines by a vast majority of the oil and gas companies increases transparency, credibility and comparability in sustainability reporting. In addition, five of the eight oil and gas companies disclosed that they had obtained third-party assurance of their sustainability reports.     

内源微生物驱油及其对油藏微生物活动的影响

【目的】新疆油田六中区为典型水驱普通稠油油藏，水驱效果较差，油藏具有丰富的内源微生物，本研究通过分析内源微生物驱油对油藏微生物活动的影响，确定内源微生物驱油技术在该类油藏的应用潜力。【方法】采用高通量测序及分析化学技术，系统研究实施内源微生物驱油技术后油藏细菌群落结构组成、细菌总数和功能菌群的浓度以及采出液的流体性质，总结内源微生物驱油对油藏微生物活动的影响。【结果】现场试验注入激活剂和空气后，内源微生物被显著激活，细菌群落结构发生明显变化，细菌总数及功能菌群浓度普遍提高了2–3个数量级；各种内源微生物代谢活动显著增强，与地层流体相互作用后，原油明显被乳化，最终石油采收率提高5.2%。【结论】对于内源微生物较为丰富的水驱普通稠油油藏，内源微生物驱油技术对油藏微生物活动的影响显著，具有显著的技术优势和较大的应用潜力，微生物群落结构、功能菌群浓度及其相关代谢产物可以作为评价内源微生物驱油现场激活效果的重要指标，为其他内源微生物驱油现场试验提供技术参考。     

Tree Community Change across 700 km of Lowland Amazonian Forest from the Andean Foothills to Brazil

We describe patterns of tree community change along a 700-km transect through terra firme forests of western Amazonia, running from the base of the Andes in Ecuador to the Peru–Brazil border. Our primary question is whether floristic variation at large scales arises from many gradual changes or a few abrupt ones. Data from 54 1-ha tree plots along the transect support the latter model, showing two sharp discontinuities in community structure at the genus level. One is located near the Ecuador–Peru border, where the suite of species that dominates large areas of Ecuadorean forest declines abruptly in importance to the east. This discontinuity is underlain by a subterranean paleoarch and congruent with a change in soil texture. A second discontinuity is associated with the shift from clay to white sand soils near Iquitos. We hypothesize that the first discontinuity is part of an edaphic boundary that runs along the Andean piedmont and causes a transition from tree communities preferring richer, younger soils near the base of the Andes to those preferring poorer, older soils farther east. Because the floristic changes observed at this discontinuity are conserved for large distances to the east and west of it, the discontinuity is potentially key for understanding floristic variation in western Amazonia. The significant floristic turnover at the Ecuador–Peru border suggests that the only large protected area in the region—Ecuador's Yasuní National Park—is not adequate protection for the very diverse tree communities that cover vast areas of northern Peru.     

Geographic Distribution of Isolated Indigenous Societies in Amazonia and the Efficacy of Indigenous Territories

The headwaters of the Amazon Basin harbor most of the world’s last indigenous peoples who have limited contact with encroaching colonists. Knowledge of the geographic distribution of these isolated groups is essential to assist with the development of immediate protections for vulnerable indigenous settlements. We used remote sensing to document the locations of 28 isolated villages within the four Brazilian states of Acre, Amazonas, Roraima, and Rondônia. The sites were confirmed during previous over-flights and by image evidence of thatched-roof houses; they are estimated to host over 1,700 individuals. Locational data were used to train maximum entropy models that identified landscape and anthropogenic features associated with the occurrence of isolated indigenous villages, including elevation, proximity to streams of five different orders, proximity to roads and settlements, proximity to recent deforestation, and vegetation cover type. Isolated villages were identified at mid elevations, within 20 km of the tops of watersheds and at greater distances from existing roads and trails. We further used model results, combined with boundaries of the existing indigenous territory system that is designed to protect indigenous lands, to assess the efficacy of the existing protected area network for isolated peoples. Results indicate that existing indigenous territories encompass all of the villages we identified, and 50% of the areas with high predicted probabilities of isolated village occurrence. Our results are intended to help inform policies that can mitigate against future external threats to isolated peoples.     

A feasibility study on seeding as a bioremediation practice for the oily Kuwaiti desert

Immediately after a simulated oil spill, and for 28 weeks, Kuwaiti desert samples became steadily enriched with one specific, indigenous, oil-degrading Arthrobacter strain, KCC 201. Other indigenous oil degraders, including other Arthrobacter strains, either remained unchanged at low numbers or steadily disappeared. The partial hydrocarbon degradation in the polluted samples was primarily due to the indigenous, actively propagating Arthrobacter strain. Seeding the 28-week-old polluted samples with local or foreign oil-degrading isolates did not lead to enhancement of hydrocarbon degradation and resulted in dramatic decreases in the numbers of the predominant, indigenous, oil-degrading Arthrobacter strain, KCC 201. Some of the seeded organisms, particularly the foreign isolates, failed to establish themselves in the polluted samples, apparently because of microbial competition.     

Oil interests and the law of the sea: The case of the philippines

Abstract

In March 1976, after almost eighty years of unsuccessful oil exploration in the Philippines, a significant quantity of oil was discovered offshore and northwest of the island of Palawan in the South China Sea. Subsequent development of a commercially producing oil field there has stimulated renewed interest and investment in the development of her indigenous oil potential, both offshore and onshore.

National interest in oil has become so great that the Philippines has intensified exploration efforts in highly disputed areas of the South China Sea, based on minimal geological evidence of hydrocarbon potential there, and despite strong protests from the other nations that hold conflicting territorial claims in that region. These efforts have been accompanied by extension of Philippine claims, occupation, and control over marine territory and resources in the disputed area. The Philippine bases for these actions are reviewed and several scenarios are explored as to how the Philippine oil interests may influence the resolution of boundary conflicts thus created.     

Study on distribution of reservoir endogenous microbe and oil displacement mechanism

In order to research oil displacement mechanism by indigenous microbial communities under reservoir conditions, indigenous microbial flooding experiments using the endogenous mixed bacterium from Shengli Oilfield were carried out. Through microscopic simulation visual model, observation and analysis of distribution and flow of the remaining oil in the process of water flooding and microbial oil displacement were conducted under high temperature and high pressure conditions. Research has shown that compared with atmospheric conditions, the growth of the microorganism metabolism and attenuation is slowly under high pressure conditions, and the existence of the porous medium for microbial provides good adhesion, also makes its growth cycle extension. The microbial activities can effectively launch all kinds of residual oil, and can together with metabolites, enter the blind holes off which water flooding, polymer flooding and gas flooding can’t sweep, then swap out remaining oil, increase liquidity of the crude oil and remarkably improve oil displacement effect.     

The impact of the State Innovation Models Initiative on population health

In this paper, we examine the effects of the State Innovation Models Initiative (SIM) on population-level health status. SIM provided $250 million to six states in 2013 for broad delivery system reforms. We use data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for the years 2010–2016. Our sample is restricted to individuals ages 45 and older residing in 6 SIM and 15 control states. Treatment effects in a difference-in-difference design are estimated using a latent factor model for multiple indicators of health status. In addition to estimates for the primary sample, we obtain estimates for six subsamples based on strata of age, education, income, race and urban/rural status. We find that individuals in states that implemented SIM show significant improvements in health status. The effects of SIM are greater among older, Medicare eligible individuals, including those living in rural areas. The State Innovation Models Initiative, which provided financial incentives for states to implement health care delivery system reforms, led to population-level improvements in health status.     

How will oil palm expansion affect biodiversity?

Oil palm is one of the world's most rapidly increasing crops. We assess its contribution to tropical deforestation and review its biodiversity value. Oil palm has replaced large areas of forest in Southeast Asia, but land-cover change statistics alone do not allow an assessment of where it has driven forest clearance and where it has simply followed it. Oil palm plantations support much fewer species than do forests and often also fewer than other tree crops. Further negative impacts include habitat fragmentation and pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions. With rising demand for vegetable oils and biofuels, and strong overlap between areas suitable for oil palm and those of most importance for biodiversity, substantial biodiversity losses will only be averted if future oil palm expansion is managed to avoid deforestation.     

Comparing the Ecological Impacts of Wind and Oil & Gas Development: A Landscape Scale Assessment

Energy production in the United States is in transition as the demand for clean and domestic power increases. Wind energy offers the benefit of reduced emissions, yet, like oil and natural gas, it also contributes to energy sprawl. We used a diverse set of indicators to quantify the ecological impacts of oil, natural gas, and wind energy development in Colorado and Wyoming. Aerial imagery was supplemented with empirical data to estimate habitat loss, fragmentation, potential for wildlife mortality, susceptibility to invasion, biomass carbon lost, and water resources. To quantify these impacts we digitized the land-use footprint within 375 plots, stratified by energy type. We quantified the change in impacts per unit area and per unit energy produced, compared wind energy to oil and gas, and compared landscapes with and without energy development. We found substantial differences in impacts between energy types for most indicators, although the magnitude and direction of the differences varied. Oil and gas generally resulted in greater impacts per unit area but fewer impacts per unit energy compared with wind. Biologically important and policy-relevant outcomes of this study include: 1) regardless of energy type, underlying land-use matters and development in already disturbed areas resulted in fewer total impacts; 2) the number and source of potential mortality varied between energy types, however, the lack of robust mortality data limits our ability to use this information to estimate and mitigate impacts; and 3) per unit energy produced, oil and gas extraction was less impactful on an annual basis but is likely to have a much larger cumulative footprint than wind energy over time. This rapid evaluation of landscape-scale energy development impacts could be replicated in other regions, and our specific findings can help meet the challenge of balancing land conservation with society’s demand for energy.     

Potential production and utilisation of oil fromTrichilia SPP. (Meliaceae)

Trichilia emetica Vahl andT. dregeana Sonder are trees indigenous to Zimbabwe and are widely planted for shade in urban areas. The seed ofTrichilia contains oil concentrations as high as most oil-rich dicotyledonous seeds and is a potential source of income for rural people. The seed production of mature trees varies greatly from one year to the next, averaging 64.7 kg of fresh seed per tree annually in Harare. Fresh seed yields approximately 308 ml oil kg¹ (approximately 30%), using a simple ram press. Trichilia oil produces a good finish on wooden surfaces and would compete successfully with other commercial wood oils. No storage problems are envisaged for either seed or oil.     

Indigenous Sediment Microbial Activity in Response to Nutrient Enrichment and Plant Growth Following a Controlled Oil Spill on a Freshwater Wetland

The population density and activity of a microbial community associated with the sediment and rhizosphere of an intertidal freshwater wetland dominated by Scirpus pungens was monitored before and following the application of weathered Mesa light crude oil and fertilizers. The influence of nutrient enrichment (fertilizers) and plant growth on oil degradation rates was determined from the resulting data. The study plots (four blocks of replicates) were subjected to five treatments: oil only (natural attenuation); oil plus ammonium nitrate and phosphate, with regular cropping of the plants; oil plus ammonium nitrate and phosphate; oil plus sodium nitrate and phosphate; no oil, ammonium nitrate and phosphate. The plots were regularly monitored in the field for gas production (carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide), and samples were collected for laboratory analysis of denitrification activity, aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon degradation activity, and total heteroptrophic bacteria. The viable bacterial population density increased during the first 4 weeks in oiled and unoiled experimental plots that were fertilized. In contrast, population densities in untreated areas remained relatively unchanged throughout the monitoring period. The microbial population demonstrated a rapid and sustained increase in naphthalene mineralization activity in plots that were both fertilized and oiled. Hexadecane mineralization activity increased in response to fertilizer application, with ammonium nitrate causing a larger increase than sodium nitrate. A very significant difference observed in the mineralization of hexadecane was that the surface sediments were much more active than the subsurface sediments. This difference became even more pronounced in the second year of monitoring, even though the treatment regime had been discontinued. This compartmentalization of mineralization activity was not observed for naphthalene. Following fertilizer application, field and laboratory evaluation of nitrogen metabolism in the sediments indicated significant denitrification activity that was not adversely affected by oiling. The results demonstrated that the application of fertilizers stimulated the activities of indigenous hydrocarbon-degrading and denitrifying bacteria, and the presence of oil either enhanced or had no detrimental effect on these activities. As a remediation strategy, the application of fertilizers to a wetland shoreline following an oil spill would promote the growth of indigenous plants and their associated microbial flora, resulting in increased metabolic activity and the potential for increased oil degradation activity.